Area Development News Desk

08/02/2013

Related Research

Beam Inc., a premium spirits company, will partner with a third-party logistics provider to establish a 600,000 square foot state-of-the-art distribution center in the Frankfort, Kentucky area, with plans to create 60 jobs.

The new center, expected to open in the first quarter of 2015, will be operated exclusively on behalf of Beam's extensive portfolio of brands and will be fully owned and operated by a third-party distribution and logistics provider who will be named in early 2014, the company said.

The distribution facility will be built from the ground-up in the Frankfort vicinity to be in close proximity to Beam's Frankfort facility, which currently bottles more than 12 million cases the firm produces each year. Company officials said the distribution facility will help to optimize Beam's supply chain in Kentucky, while serving as a permanent warehousing solution for Beam's finished case goods from Frankfort before they are shipped to the distributors and other partners for sale in the U.S. and throughout the world.

"In the past five years, Beam's volume at Frankfort has more than doubled, and two-thirds of Beam's annual global volume is produced out of our plants in Kentucky," said David Hunter, vice president global manufacturing for Beam. "By having a third-party logistics provider operate this new distribution center for us, we will be able to focus on our core competency of making the best spirits in the world and best meet the growing distribution needs of our business. We couldn't be more pleased to show once again that we're growing for the future in Kentucky."

"The Bourbon industry is not only a staple, but also a driver of our economy in Kentucky, and once again Beam is proving that it's the leader in that growth," said Gov. Steve Beshear. "Business growth equals jobs, and that's exactly what Beam continues to bring to our families throughout our Commonwealth."

"Kentucky is the Bourbon capital of the world, and Beam is one of the leaders helping to keep the industry strong," Senator Mitch McConnell said.

This announcement is the latest in Beam's long history of business investments in the Commonwealth. On July 15, Beam opened its new $2.7 million Global Business Services Center that has brought more than 30 professional jobs to Louisville. Last fall, Beam celebrated the grand opening of the Jim Beam American Stillhouse visitors' experience and Global Innovation Center, a combined multi-year investment of $30 million, in Clermont, Kentucky.